Wednesday, September 9, 2015
LITTLE ONE
Little One may have a foster home! Holy Fucking Yes! By the time I return the cats to Happy Endings No Kill Cat Shelter they are ready for adoption. Not always perfect but well on their way. Little One was able to be pet before I took her she just stopped eating at the shelter. Only a home will fix that. Now she has someone that is willing to give her a chance. I talked to the woman and she seems like she wants a challenge. The adopt is also gone a lot and needs a cat that is independent. That's Little One! Like all shelter animals you just have to go slow. The animal gets used to a small area and needs time to adjust. Some animals get used to and feel safe in a cage and need that at their new home. Others like Little One hate being caged but still need time to get used to a whole house. As adopters and fosters you have to use common sense and help the animal adapt. If it's out and about, eating, drinking and crapping great! If it's hiding and not eating, drinking and crapping you need to give it less space and less noise. If the animal is not friendly give it a couple days then go slow. Maybe try 2 or 3 times a day at most, but don't stop trying! It takes time! Start with petting. When you are both okay with it move on to holding and so on. Remember don't give them a place to hide you can't get to them. Give them places to hide but that you can touch them. Also approach from down low never over the top of them. Want to move their food dishes and or litter box go slow. A few inches to a couple feet at most. Remember the food dishes and litter box are theirs. If you move the food they may stop eating and you can move it back and go slower. You move a cat box to fast and they may use the space litter box or not. If your going to move the litter box I suggest putting a new one where you want it to end up then move the old one toward the new location. Also remember 1 cat = 2 boxes then 1 box for each additional cat. 3 cats 4 boxes and so on.
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Hi Mark! I didn't know how else to get in contact with you, but I figured I'd comment here. I'm the person who took Little One, and she's only been with me for just over two days, but things have been going great so far! Within 20 minutes in my apartment, she had walked out of her carrier with me in the room to explore a bit, and within 30 minutes she'd eaten a treat I'd left for her. I left the room to sleep, leaving her alone, and overnight, she'd eaten, drank and used the litter box, allaying any fears I had about those things! Since then, she's had plenty of time to have her area by herself, and she seems to have at least adapted to it pretty well. She's coming out when I'm home, she's eating (only dry food, despite canned options available) and drinking with me in the room, and she's using the litterbox with me in the room. She does prefer her "safe" spots, but I expect that. Her (open) carrier, is one of them, as is the window sill and some spots in the bathroom. I haven't tried petting yet, but she's been fine with me sitting pretty close to her (within two feet), and today I got my hand within 3 inches of her to give her a treat, and she didn't shy away or tense at all. We'll get there, but I don't want to push any more just yet, her since both her environment and myself are so new.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think she's had a great two days. She definitely already seems more comfortable. Here's two pictures just to show her out and about. In the one where she's standing, I don't think she's as startled as she looks, because she'd been exploring the room comfortably for awhile at that point, and I just got that picture right as she glanced over at me.
http://i.imgur.com/o388UR5.jpg
]http://i.imgur.com/EVqXS5r.jpg
Thanks for being so helpful! I think your blog is also a great resource for people trying to learn more about how to handle new cats in their homes, of any type.
That second link should be http://i.imgur.com/EVqXS5r.jpg Oops!
ReplyDelete